Mikes Articles and Blog

Consider a room full of Directors all reviewing the performance of their managers. They are setting goals, establishing development plans, and comtemplating who are on the fast track to promotion and who will need coaching.

Managers take note. A friend once told me having a good human resource manager/director is the equivalent of finding a good dentist. This actually made great sense to me. No one ever wants to see the dentist. You certainly don’t visit a dentist unless you have to, and you never think about your dentist until that critical moment when you really need him.

Sit down and calculate the amount of time you spend on your job.I’m serious.Before you read any further, I want you to compute how much time you use for your employment.Now I don’t mean just from the time you clock in at 9 a.m. You should count ALL the time – the time it takes to get ready

So you just got a new job. It's your first day and you want to make a good impression. Shake things up. Drive change. Make your mark. In short, you have just chosen suicide. Although I am not one to preach by parables, let me tell you a story I tell any new hire who joins a company.

Sometimes life hits you in the face with a reality check. It may be something as simple and annoying as a rainstorm knocking out your internet for a week, or a little more significant like your son trying to see if your cell phone has the same effect on Diet Coke as Mentos. In my case, it was both... at the same time.

"When do I get my life back?" yelled the manager as he completed his sixth straight week of more than 60 hours in the office. "You get your life back when I get mine," answered the director who has a cot in his office because sometimes it’s too dangerous to drive home on California freeways while exhausted.

Where can you spend $600 to be treated like crap? One word… Delta. Actually, I should address them by their formal title, Delta Airlines, which went out of its way to provide the perfect demonstration that small moments of crappy customer service can crescendo into hundreds of miserable people.

In the 1960's everybody smoked. It was everywhere. It was constant. It was sexy. Cigarettes had the best commercials, the finest jingles, the hottest ad girls. Every time I look back at the old 8mm movies of my childhood, I am stunned to find an ashtray with a thin trail of smoke rising from it in every picture.

Every one of us could tell a story about someone in our company. It could be someone we know and work with or someone we’ve never even met. That’s because every company has its "memorable" employees… the machine operator who discovered a way to streamline the system and made the company millions, or the young ex

Statistics show more than 80% of us have gotten into a relationship with someone at work. Over 60% of us actually married someone we met at work. The fact is, we spend most of our lives on the job and it stands to reason that we will eventually run into someone we want to get to know better. Based on these statistics, meeting someone at work is simply the most effective dating site you could possibly imagine and there is no monthly fee.

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Special Note: The opinions and advice expressed on the show, while backed by over 20 years of experience in all areas of the labor market, are intended to be suggestions as to potential actions you could take. Many people value Mike’s advice, however you should not simply do what Mike tells you. On legal matters you should seek the help of a competent Labor Attorney. On matters relating to retirement, financial matters, 401(k)'s and other money issues, you should seek the help of a qualified financial counselor. On medical matters, workers compensation, and other related health issues, you should see your doctor. Never take a blind faith mentality when it comes to anything you do.